MrSeb writes "Japanese researchers have created a hand-held gun that can jam the words of speakers who are more than 30 meters (100ft) away. The gun has two purposes, proper to the researchers: At its most basic, this gun could be used in libraries and other quiet spaces to stop people from oratory — but its second form is a lot more chilling. The researchers were looking for a way to stop 'louder, stronger' voices from saying more than their fair share in conversation. The paper reads: 'We have to seat and obey rules for proper turn-taking when speaking. However, some people tend to lengthen their turns or deliberately interrupt other people when it is their turn in order to fix their whereabouts rather than achieve more fruitful discussions. Furthermore, some people tend to jeer at speakers to undermine their speech.' In other words, this speech-jamming gun was built to enforce 'proper' conversations."